Why David Fairclough went to a European Cup final with a transfer request in his pocket.

David Fairclough with the European cup on his head on the train journey home after beating Bruges 1-0.

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What is taken to the Cup Final EVERY year - but is NEVER used?

IT’s a quiz question almost as old as the Cup Final itself, and everyone knows the answer – the losing team’s ribbons, of course, which never get to adorn the FA Cup’s handles.

But in 1978 David Fairclough took another unused item to Wembley for the European Cup final.

And it is something he has revealed for the first time in his candid and often poignant autobiography, published this month by de Coubertin Books.

Liverpool’s victory over FC Bruges, when the Reds became the first British team to retain the European Cup, is one of the greatest nights in Fairclough’s life.

But David, an Anfield legend, travelled to Wembley with a transfer request in his jacket pocket.

The seeds of Fairclough’s unrest had been sown 12 months earlier, when he was left out of Liverpool’s FA Cup squad by a manager who had suffered the same fate himself 28 years earlier.

Bob Paisley had started 23 league games and all of Liverpool’s FA Cup ties in 1950, scoring in a semi-final victory over Everton.

But he was left out of the side which faced Arsenal at Wembley.

David Fairclough heads down to score a goal during the Division One match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on October 8, 1977.

In 1977 Fairclough had progressed from title winning wild card the previous season to make regular appearances in the second half of the 1976/77 campaign.

He started 12 of the final 18 matches of the season - and when he didn’t start scored one of the most famous goals in Anfield history against St Etienne - as a sub for which the term ‘super’ barely does justice.

Yet he did not feature in Paisley’s plans against Manchester United.

In an emotional meeting where both men were close to tears, Paisley explained: “It’s just about how I want to play it tomorrow.

“What I’m going to do is start with David Johnson. Hopefully we’ll get an early breakthrough, Cally will be sub and he’ll come on later to replace Johnno and close things down.”

Team-mates and striking rivals - David Fairclough is weighed by David Johnson during his medical om July 20, 1979.

Unusually for Paisley, the mastermind behind so many trophy successes, it was a flawed plan.

Manchester United scored first. Liverpool equalised almost immediately with one of Wembley’s great strikes from Jimmy Case, then United struck again with one of Wembley’s luckiest - a Lou Macari mishit which bounced off Jimmy Greenhoff and arced in slow motion past a bemused Ray Clemence.

Liverpool were left to chase the game for 37 minutes, in the kind of situation Fairclough had already retrieved so many times in his brief Anfield career.

But Fairclough was sat brooding in the stand - thinking of Paisley’s parting words as the Reds boss left his hotel room the day before.

"Don’t worry, I’ll definitely need you on Wednesday in Rome. You’ll be a part of it and play over there.”

Except Fairclough didn’t.

With five substitutes named in European matches back then, he was at least sat on the substitutes’ bench this time.

But like Alec Lindsay, David Johnson, Alan Waddle and goalkeeper Peter McDonnell, he stayed there as Paisley made no changes to his starting XI.

That sowed the seeds of a relationship of mistrust between player and boss - and the memory flashed back to Fairclough in the build up to the 1978 European final.

Fairclough wrote: “In the days leading up to the final, Bob Paisley announced to the press that he still hadn’t decided on his team and that he would be making a late check on the fitness of Steve Heighway before finalising his plans.

“After what had happened a year before you can imagine how I was feeling. When I read the quote I could feel the muscles in my stomach starting to tighten. ‘Oh no, not again’ was my immediate thought. I was furious.

“I got myself so wound up that when we got back to the hotel I went to my room and wrote a letter, which was effectively a transfer request. If Bob Paisley left me out again, I would hand it in.

“I put the letter in the inside pocket of my suit jacket and we left for the stadium.”

Liverpool manager Bob Paisley with the European Cup

It was only when he walked into the dressing room an hour before kick-off and saw his boots laid out did Fairclough finally know he was starting.

Fairclough ended his Anfield career with two European Cup winner’s medals, three title medals, a League Cup winning tankard and a UEFA Cup winner’s medal - not to mention 55 goals in 154 appearances - some of them the most crucial strikes in the club’s history.

But his relationship with Paisley never fully recovered and in his final season as a Liverpool player he was blanked completely by the manager.

It was only in recent years that he discovered why.

“I’m still a massive fan of Liverpool ... and whenever I get together with my friends it’s the fortunes of the Reds that dominate our conversation,” he wrote.

“It was during one of these regular footy talks not so long ago that I unearthed one of the little mysteries surrounding my career - why Bob Paisley completely ignored me during the final weeks of the 1982/83 season.

City's Nicky Reid chased by David Fairclough, who had chased City in a 4-0 hiding on 4th April 1983.

“It came about when I was spending some time with Colin Bridge, who was perhaps my closest friend. Colin was battling cancer at the time so I would often go round to see him. During my playing days he was a regular visitor to Bob Rawcliffe’s garage and therefore often came across Paisley.

“While sitting at his kitchen table he casually dropped the following line into our conversation: ‘Well we all know why Bob Paisley fell out with you, don’t we?’

“ ‘Do we?’ I asked, with a rather puzzled expression on my face.

“ ‘It was because you wrote that piece in the paper and got thousands for it.’ ”

“... I remember doing an interview for the Sunday People. It was just the basic type of interview many players did, talking about how the season had been going and my plans for the following season and so on.

"Paisley took offence"

“When I saw the headline I wasn’t happy - ‘I owe Liverpool nothing’ it roared. What they chose to omit was the bit ‘ but they owe me nothing too.’

“Paisley took offence and immediately decided to bomb me out, telling anyone within earshot at the garage ‘We give him his chance and that’s how he pays us back, selling his story to the papers for thousands.’

“Apart from the fact that I didn’t receive a penny for the interview, it came as a real shock to discover the reason why my Liverpool career ended so abruptly, and I couldn’t believe the boss never confronted me over it.

“Years later. he was misquoted by the press himself, regarding a remark he made about John Aldridge, so it can easily happen and I just wish I’d had the chance to explain myself.”